ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURED GREEN PROPELLANT TANKS: VOLUME EFFICIENT DESIGNS AND MATERIALS CHEMICAL COMPATIBILITY

The propellant storage compartments (propellant tanks) have undergone noted evolution in the design nature (mainly the shape and the structural properties) as well as the development process. To achieve high system performance for a given propulsion system, inert mass reduction as well as efficient volume utilization can be considered as the main attributes to concern the designer. Additive manufacturing (AM) techniques, on the other hand, have played a major role in recent years in altering the propulsion system design process to achieve higher overall propulsion performance due to the technical advantages of AM in reducing mass, enhancing heat transfer through enabling complex geometries and using high performance alloys. With new chances of increasing propulsion performance come new challenges on using AM propellant tanks, and chemical compatibility with green propellants is one. The relevant chemical properties of several green energetic ionic monopropellants are addressed, as well as an assessment of their compatibility with the main materials used in AM processes. This article is published with the permission of the authors granted to 3AF; Association Aeronautique et Astronautique de France (www.3AF.fr) organizer of the Space Propulsion International Conference.